Devices for observation and examination of mechanical parts are used in many industries. In particular, in industries where quality control and safety are particularly relevant and important, borescopes and other such devices are often used to examine the portions of a part or other object that are difficult to examine and evaluate with non-specialized equipment. For example, parts like cylinders, housing tubes and fluid transport lines, wear over time and it is often difficult to view the internal surface condition of these parts without the use of a borescopic device. By utilizing a borescopic device, however, the internal surfaces of these and other parts may be examined, such as on a periodic basis, to monitor the wear such that the parts may be replaced or refurbished prior to failure. It is also sometimes desirable to examine these parts after some landmark event has occurred, for example, like a catastrophic failure, in order to determine the cause of the failure or other information regarding the failure that may be used to avert future failures of similar parts.
While borescopic devices do provide a great benefit by enabling the examination of internal surfaces of parts that are otherwise difficult to inspect, there are limitations. Specifically, it is often difficult to record or document, with great accuracy, a position of a particular portion of the object being examined. In this regard, borescopic devices provide images of the object, but it may prove difficult to determine with any significant degree of accuracy the particular location upon the object that has been captured in an image. Although difficult to do, it is sometimes desirable to identify the precise location upon the object that has been captured, such as to determine the cause of a failure in a forensic analysis or to permit re-examination of the same location at some later time. Further, the freedom of movement of the parts being examined and the borescopic devices used to examine the parts is often limited, making the examination process more cumbersome and less efficient than desired.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a borescopic device and method capable of examining parts, including the internal surfaces of parts, in a manner that is efficient, accurate and repeatable. In this regard, it would be desirable to provide a borescopic device and method that are capable of permitting controlled movement of the object under test both angularly and along several different axes. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a borescopic device and method that could precisely identify the location of the part that is captured in an image to permit the inspection to be easily repeated and/or to provide more detailed information during a forensic analysis.